NEW DELHI:The Congress was leading in Haryana's Baroda Assembly bypoll on Tuesday. The seat is significant as former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's image is at stake.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda put in all his political might in the bypolls to retain the seat as the party candidate was handpicked by him.
The bypoll was necessitated after the demise of the sitting Congress MLA. In the 2019 Haryana Assembly elections, Sri Krishan had defeated Yogeshwar Dutt of the BJP by 4, 840 votes.
The former Chief Minister has been running the party affairs in Haryana and a win on the seat is crucial for him to ensure he continues to have a say in the party. He had earlier made the Congress to nominate his son Deepender S. Hooda to the Rajya Sabha while ignoring state president Kumari Selja whose term in the Upper House of Parliament was coming to an end at that point in time.
However, critics of Hooda allege that he is hand-in-glove with the BJP. Former Congress president Ashok Tanwar, who left the party in October 2019, alleged that all parties in the fray are "cheating the public".
The seat is also a prestige issue for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The BJP is trying its luck this time with the support of alliance partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the INLD.
Earlier, Khattar said he was confident of wresting the seat from the Congress with the JJP support.
The BJP had won 40 of the 90 Assembly seats in 2019 and formed the government with the JJP's support, which had won 10 seats. The Congress had won 31 seats.